Sacking device with open-ended body having sack gripping devices thereon



April 28, 1953 s. TANABE SACKING DEVICE WITH OPEN-ENDED BODY VING SACKGRIPPING DEVICES THEREO 2 SHEETS -SHEET 1 Filed April 8, 1952 INVENTOR.

Apnl 28, 1953 s. TANABE 2,636,656 SACKING DEVICE WITH OPEN-ENDED BODYHAVING SACK GRIPPING DEVICES THEREON Filed April 8. 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET2 4 68 F/ G. 7 /6 60 36 55 JJ; 32 50 72 n 24 m g J 42 26 J 38 INVENTOR.$404/V/ 799N485;

Patented Apr. 28, 1953 SACKING DEVICE WITH OPEN-ENDED BODY HAVING SACKGRIPPIN G DEVICES THEREQN Sadami Tanabe, Boise, Idaho Application April8, 1952, Serial No. 281,066

Claims. (01. 226-59) to make this task more easy. However, most us-'.

ually, sacks are still filled by emptying the onions, potatoes, or likeproducts into the mouth of the sack, from the top of a tilted basket,hamper, or similar container.

In view of the above, it is the main object of the present invention toprovide a device capable of being readily attached to the open end of asack, and adapted when so attached to permit the sack to be filledswifty, and with a mini-mum amount of difficulty.

Another important objectfis to provide a device as stated which will bein the form of an open ended, tapered, basket-likebody having meansdisposed at substantially diametrically opposite locations thereuponthat are'adapted to engage the open end of the sack and hold said open.

end in position about the body, thus to permit the objects with whichthe sack is to be filled to pass directly through said body into thesack.

Another important object is to provide a device of the characterreferred to wherein the means employed thereon for engaging the sackwill be relatively adjustable-in a manner to cause the open end of thesack to be tensioned about the body.

Yet another object of importance is to provide a device as statedwherein the adjustable means will be so formed as to be retainedautomatically in selected positions to which the means is adjusted, withdisengagement of said means from the sack being adapted to efiect anautomatic release of said means from the selected position to which itwas previously adjusted.

Still another object of importance is to provide a sacking device whichcan be manufactured at relatively low cost, and will be rugged anddurable in use.

Other'objects will appear from the following description, the claimsappended thereto, and.

from the annexed drawings, in which like reference characters designatelike parts throughout theseveral views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a sacking device formed in accordancewith the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view on a reduced scale, showing thedevice as it appears during a first step in the operation of filling asack;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the device and sack asthey appear during a later step in the sack filling operation;

Figure 5 is a front elevational view, on a greatly enlarged scale, ofthe adjustable sack gripping assembly of the device, the basket-likebody on which said assembly is mounted being illustrated onlyfragmentarily;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6--6 of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on line 'l| of Figure 5.

The sacking device formed in accordance with the present inventionincludes an open ended, basket-like body designated generally by thereference numeral H3. As shown in Figure 2, the body tapers from end toend thereof, and it will be understood that the body can be formed ofany suitable material. As an example of one type of construction whichcan advantageously be used, I have illustrated the body as comprising aseries of vertically spaced, concentric rings l2 of wire material, saidrings being increased progressively in diameter from the smaller to thelarger end of the body and being fixedly secured in spaced relation by aplurality of longitudinal braces ll spaced circumferentially of therings and arranged longitudinally of the body. The support braces 14,like the rings l2, can be formed of a stout wire or rod material.

Mounted upon the outer surfaceof the body [0, at diametrically oppositelocations thereon, are sack gripping assemblies designated generally bythe reference numerals l5 and I8 respectively. The assembly I6 can beconveniently termed an adjustable assembly, while the assembly I8, forpurposes of clarity, will be termed the stationary assembly.

The adjustable sack gripping assembly [6 will be described first, thisassembly being illustrated to advantage in Figures 5 to 7 inclusive. Aswill be noted, the assembly l6 includes an elongated ratchet bar 20having a longitudinal series of Jnotches 22. The bar 20 is arrangedlongitudinally I and centrally of the assembly 16, and is rigidly Theend plates 24 project laterally and out- 3 wardly from the body, and arerigid, at their outer edges, with the opposite ends of parallel, spaced,longitudinal support rods 28. The rods 26 are disposed at opposite sidesof the ratchet bar 20, and are spaced outwardly of the body iiitherefrom.

The ratchet bar, end plates, and support rods all cooperate to definearigidly assembled, elongated, support frame arranged longitudinally ofthe body Hl.

Circumposed about the support rods 26 (Fig ure '7) and slid-ablelongitudinally of said rods, are wire loops 28, said loops being rigidlycon nected tothe opposite ends of base plate The base plate 36 is thusmounted for slidable adjustment upon and longitudinally of the stipportframe.

Secured fixedly to and overlying the base plate 30 is a support plate32, one end of which projects beyond the base plate and is inclined asat 34, to facilitate extension into the open end of a sack s'te befilled.

Integral or otherwise made rigid with the support plate 32, intermediatethe opposite ends of saidsup'p'ort plate, are the tasted eats extendiends of a bight it that straddles and extends transversely of thesupport rods zt (Figure 5).

X It will thus benoted that the piyet pin 3&5, arms 46, extent-warez,and bight 44 can all he formed as a closed loop of stout wire or rod ii'"t'erial, said 19st; being s6 formed as to cause the portioiitttrier-edits be swingable in an alcllat-e' path abodt an axis disposedtransversely of the siippoift t me p v I Rigid with the'pin 38,intermediate the a ps. site endslbifsaid pm, is a pawl it, and a spring43- i s engaged with one of the arms st, and the adja eht ear 36, seast'o normally bias the pawl thin the; questioner the ratchet-tar 2t.

Erom ghe description provided above, it will.

n t 1' adjusted lbngitudinally or the support frariieof the ad ustameassembly N3, the it will b'e iirgie'd intd' engagement with a selectednotch 2g of theratche't bar, with movement of the pawl intd engagementwith bar heing accompanied by a movement or" the hight M in a directionaway from the body it. v

its other end, the support plate is formed. with spatedhirige sleeves56, receiving a hinge 5 2, that "extends through a hinge sleeve formedii'p'ori o'n'e end of a hinge leaf the hinge leaf 55 being thus mountedfor swinging move-- tdward steamy from the support plate 32. Asp'rmg 56is-coiled about the hinge pintz, said spring having one end engaging thesiip port plate 32,- aiid having its other end in engagement with oneend of an angularlatch 58; The spring, in' this connection, is tensions:so as to normally urge the hinge leaf es in the direction of the bodyH3. The member 563 is formed to an L.-shap'e, one leg of said memberbeing extended transversely or the hinge leaf 54 and being rigidlysecured to the underside of said hinge leaf, said leg having cine endprojecting beyond one side edge of the hinge leaf and attached to thespring 56.

a any, position to whieh the support.

wgagement with the st The other leg of the member 53 extendslongitudinally of the hinge leaf 52, adjacent the other side edgethereof, and is formed at its iree end with an inturned finger Gil.

Secured fixedly to the outer surface of the hinge leaf 54', so as topivot therewith upon the hinge pin 52, is a sack engaging hook, that canbe formed from a single-length of stout wire material folded upon itselfas shown in Figure 5, to provide a handle 32 at one end of said hook. Atthe other end of the hook, the length of wire from which the hook isformed is bent inwardly tsytae the adjacent end of the hinge leaf(Figure 5) to provide a sack engaging prong Gd.

Fix'edly secured to the support plate 32, intermediate the opposite endsof the plate, is a yblre t5 6f inverted U-shape, said yoke having itsrespective side legs affixed to the opposite side edges of the supportplate, the bight oi the yoke overlying the hook described a'ove,Elwingably mounted on said bight is a late an offset fit intermediateits oppodt ends, said a 1 set being adapted to receive the ini'gei ofthe member 5G,,when theliookis swung t i posi-' tion thereof illustratedin Figure 3, this 'beingah inoperative position of the hook in which itis shifted away from the body i G.'

spring, lid is coiled asset the bi'glit oftle yoke and, is engaged atits opposite ends w h said yoke and the latch member in? respee ely,said spring being so tensi'ohed as to normally urge the latch memberinto engagement the finger til. I V,

For the purpose of bodily permitting the hiov :able assembly itlongitudinally oi its asset] ted support frame, I. provide a tr l'ooplik'e handle '52, which can be formed from a st 318 length of wirematerial having its tiveenss pivotally supported upon the base plate 39.

From the construction which has far tees illustrated and described, itwill be apparent that the prong as will be normally urged in thedirection of the body at, so at to grip the sack .8 when the body it ispositioned in the ihehth of the sack in the manner illustrated iiiFigure 3. It will be further noted. thatwhen the prong ts is shiftedinto engagement with the sacl:,"the pawl 56 will be biased by itsassociated spring it into engagement with a selected notch 22 of theratchet bar. Thus, when the body l't is'posi 'tioned within the month ofthe sack, the latch member holding the hook out of'ehgageinent with thesack, the first step won ldlfe to trip the latch member at, thus tocause the prom; M to be'swung fer'cibily into easement with the sack.Thereafter, the user g: bail or handle 52, and pulls upwardly th so asto shift the entire adjustable hbly toward the larger of th'bo zifta--the assembly has been 'o'ved to desired eirte'n't, the handle i2 isreleased, and the "15 W1 56 will' be engaged in a selected n o t'chdfiof the ratchet To assure the retentieii' tr th th" support site," :isformed Witha ap r'tii're" l3, prong "623' will'h ov'e w on the "to itsoperative, engaging tartan.

At such time as the each is to be releaseithe "user depresses the handleof the heck, swingpawl 46 is swung out of engagement with its associatednotch 22. a

For the purpose of reinforcing the fixed connection of the support frameto the body i ii, and also for the purpose of guiding the end of sackonto the tongue 34 of the support plate 32, angularly disposed braces hiare provided, that are secured to the lower end plate 26, and extend tothe lower end of the body Id Referring now to the stationary assemblyIt, essentially, the construction thereof is the same as that of theadjustable assembly 16, with the exception that the ratchet and pawlmeans is omitted, and with the further exception that the assembly isnot adjustable in the direction of the opposite ends of the body. Thus,a stationary support frame is provided, that includes angular braces 78which, like the braces 14, serve to guide the sack to its properposition, said braces 78 being rigid with support rods 19, said supportrods being fixedly secured to the body I 0.

At the upper ends of the support rods 19, hinge sleeves are provided,receiving a hinge pin Bil, to provide a pivotal mounting for a hingeleaf 82 that constitutes a pivoted hook, by reason of the provision ofan inturned, sack engaging prong 84 at the free end thereof.

A handle 86 is included as part of said hook and is rigid with the hingeleaf 82. pression of thehandle 86 will effect disengagement of the prong84 from the sack S. However, release of the handle 86 will cause theprong 84 to swing into engagement with the sack, it being understoodthat a suitable spring will be provided, arranged like the spring 56 ofthe assembly l6.

Rigid with the support rods 19 is a yoke 88 to the bight of which ispivotally connected a swinging latch 90 having an ofiset intermediateitsopposite ends adapted to engage a suitable projection provided on thehinge leaf 82.

It will be noted from Figure 2 that the stationary assembly [8 isdisposed adjacent the lower end of the body Hi.

In use, the entire device would be positioned in the open end of a sackS, and the prong 84 will be shifted into engagement with the sack. Theadjustable assembly l6, meanwhile, will have been adjusted toward thelower end of the support frame, and the prong 64 is swung intoengagement with the sack, at a location diametrically opposite that atwhich the sack is engaged by the prong 84.

As a next step, the bail 12 is grasped, and pulled upwardly, as a resultof which the open end of the sack, at one side thereof, will be pulledupwardly. It is to be noted, in this regard, that the upward movement ofthe prong 6-4 will cause the open end of the sack to be tensioned aboutthe body Hi. This is due to the fact that the movement of the adjustableassembly 16 will cause said assembly to move away from the stationaryassembly l8, not only longitudinally of the body, but also, due to thetapered formation of the body, diametrically of the body,

The tensioning of the sack S is thus efiected, since the sack is drawnupwardly at one side thereof along a tapered, progressively widenedbody.

After the open end of the sack has been tensioned about the body Ill inthe manner discussed above, the body is filled with onions, potatoes, orany other article with which the sack is to be filled (Figure 3).

The user then need merely lift the body I!) Thus, de-

upwardly, as a result of which the articles contained therewithin willempty into the sack S. It is to be notedthat in lifting the body 10, theworker does not lift any appreciable weight, since the articlescontained within the device will be continually deposited within thesack, simultaneously with the lifting action. a a I When the device hasbeen fully emptied, as in Figure 4, the worker depresses the handles 62,respectively, causing the prongs 64, 84 to be disengaged from the sack.The disengagement of the prong 64 from the sack is accompanied by asimultaneous disengagement of the pawl 46 from its selected notch 22,permitting the entire slidable portion of the adjustable assembly togravitate to its normal, lower position. Gravitation of said portion toits low position is provided for automatically, because depression ofthe handle 62 will cause the latch 66 to engage automatically with thefinger 60.

a It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confinedto the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may beutilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the inventionto be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated anddescribed, since such construction is only intended to be illustrativeof the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carryout said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehendsany minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sacking device, an open-ended body adapted for positioning oneend thereof in the open end of a sack to be filled; a sack-gripping hockassembly mounted on the side wall of said body and including a hookpivotally mounted thereon spring loaded to normally urge the hook intoengagement with said sack; a second sackgripping assembly mounted on theside wall of the body at a location substantially diametrically oppositethat of the first assembly, and including a pivoted, spring loaded,sack-engaging hook, said second assembly being mounted for slidableadjustment longitudinally of the body and being adapted, when soadjusted, to tension said end of the sack about the body; a ratchet barsecured to and arranged longitudinally of the side wall; and a pawlcarried by said second assembly arranged for releasably retaining thesame in engagement with said bar, in selected positions to which thesecond assembly is shifted upon the body.

2. In a sacking device, an open-ended body tapering from end to endthereof and having a smaller end adapted for positioning in the open endof a sack to be filled; a sack-gripping hook assembly mounted onthe sidewall of said body adjacent said smaller end and including a hookpivotally mounted thereon spring loaded so as to be normally urged intoengagement with said sack; a second sack-gripping assembly mounted onthe side wall of the body at a location substantially diametricallyopposite that of the first assembly, and including a pivoted, springloaded, sack-engaging hook, said second assembly being mounted forslidable adjustment longitudinally of the body and being adapted, whenadjusted toward the larger end of the body in a, direction away from thefirst assembly, to tension said end of the sack about the body; aratchet bar secured to and arranged longitudinally of the side wall; anda pawl carried by said second assembly ar- 7 ranged.forz'releasablyjiretaining the same in enagement. with said'rbar, inselected positions to WhichLthe second assembly is slidably adjustedupon the body.

In a sacking device, a bodytapering from end toend thereof and having asmaller-end adapted to be extended into theopen'end :of-a sack to befilled; asack-gripping hook assembly mounted on the side wall of thebody adjacent saidsmaller end and including a hook pivotally mountedthereon spring loaded so as to be normally urged into engagement withsaid end of the sack; an elongated-support frame secured to saidside'wall'at .a location substantially diametrically oppositethatofsaidassembly, said frame plate and its associated hook toward thelarger end of the bodybeing effective to increase-the distance betweensaid hooks both diametrically and longitudinally of the body, thereby totension said endof the sackabout the body.

4. In .a sacking vdevice,"a body tapering from 6 end toend thereofandhaving a smaller end adapted to vbeextended intothe open end of asack to be filled; a sack-gripping hook assembly mounted on the sidewall of the body adjacent saidismaller end thereof'and including a hookpivotally-mounted thereon spring loaded soasto be normally urged iintoengagement with said end of the sack; an-elongated support frame secaredto said side wallat a location substantially diametrically opposite-thatof said assembly, said frame being'arranged longitudinally of the bodyand including-a ratchet bar; a support plate sliding on said frame;.apawl releasably engageable with said bar forretention of theplateinselected positions to which it is slidablyv adjustable on the. frame,said pawl being pivotally mounted on the plateand being spring loadedsoas tobe normally urgedinto engagement with the bar; and-asecondhookpivotallymounted on the plate for. movement toward-and away from thebody 0 and spring loaded so as to be normally-urged toward the body intoengagement with said end of the sack, slidableadjustment of the supportplate and its associated hook toward the larger end of the body beingeffective to increase the distance between said hooks both diametrically8 and longitudinally of the. body, thereby to tension said end of thesack about the body,said second hook including a handle engaging thepawl and swinging the same out of engagement with the bar on movement ofthe second hook away from the body.

5. In a sacking device, a body tapering from end to end thereof andhaving a smaller end adapted to be extended into the open end of a sackto be filled; asack-gripping hook assembly mounted on the sidewall ofthe body adjacent said smaller end thereof and including a hookpivotally mounted for movement toward and away from said side wall andspring loaded so as to be normally urged toward the side wall intoengagement with said end of'the sack, said assembly further including-apivoted latch adapted to 'releasably engage said hook on movementthereof away from'the side wallyian elongated support frame secured tosaid side wall at a location substantially diametrically opposite thatof said assembly, said frame being arranged longitudinallyof the bodyandincluding a ratchet bar; a support plate sliding on said frame; a pawlreleasably engageable with said bar for retention of the support platein selected positions to which it is slidably adjusted on the frame,said pawl being pivotally mounted on the plate and being springloaded soas to benormally urged into engagement with thebar; a second hookpivotally mountedon the plate for-movement toward and away from the bodyand spring loaded so as to be normally urged toward the body intoengagement with said end of the sack, slidable adjustment of the supportplate and itsassociated hook toward the larger end of the body beingeffective to increase the distance between said hooks both diametricallyand longitudinally of the body, thereby :to tension said end of the sackabout the body, said secondhook-including a handle engaging the pawl andswinging the same out of engagement with the baron movement of thesecond hook away from the body; and a latch pivotally supported on thesupport plate and arranged to releasably engage the second hook onmovement thereof away from the. side wall out of engagement with thesack.

. SADAMI TANABE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 186,918 Allen Feb. 6, 1877 884,798 'Cusick et a1 Apr. 14, 19082,525,113 Berg Oct. 10, 1950

